


Game Before the End

by Takara_Phoenix



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Found Family, Iron Family, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Parent Tony Stark, Past Child Abuse, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 22:57:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20182105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Takara_Phoenix/pseuds/Takara_Phoenix
Summary: Ten years ago, teenaged Nebula and Gamora went to Earth on their search for the Infinity Stones, trying to impress their father. Instead, they found two new, better fathers.(Or: Tony and Bruce avoid the end of the universe by adopting two alien orphans.)





	Game Before the End

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kimmy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kimmy/gifts).

Marvel || ScienceHusbands || Marvel || Game Before the End || Marvel || ScienceHusbands || Marvel

Title: Game Before the End – How Bruce and Tony Acquired Two Children

Fandom: Marvel

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Marvel Comics for the creation of some of the most awesome heroes ever. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: m/m, fluff, hurt/comfort, past child abuse, found family

Main Pairing: Bruce/Tony

Marvel Characters: Anthony 'Tony' Stark, Bruce Banner, Gamora, Nebula

Summary: Ten years ago, teenaged Nebula and Gamora went to Earth on their search for the Infinity Stones, trying to impress their father. Instead, they found two new, better fathers.

(Or: Tony and Bruce avoid the end of the universe by adopting two alien orphans.)

**Game Before the End**

_How Bruce and Tony Acquired Two Children_

Aliens in New York. Now that was something Tony had never anticipated to say. Then again, he had never anticipated becoming a superhero, stopping the weapons-manufacturing and being betrayed by Obie, of all people. So, when did his life _ever_ do the anticipated thing?

"You two. What are you doing here?", asked Tony, slowly lowering his repulsors.

He was the only hero in the US. And he so happened to live in New York. Only that the two aliens he was facing were... not what he had expected either. They were two teenage girls, one looked maybe seventeen, the other looked fifteen. The older one had green skin and purple hair, while the other had blue skin and a few cyborg parts. But still, both were _children_.

"We have come to claim the Infinity Stones in the name of our father, the Titan Thanos."

"O—Okay, green bean", nodded Tony slowly. "So, your dad's sending you to do his dirty work, mh? Or did the two of you run away? Because I don't see an army anywhere."

Both kids tensed at that, though they still looked ready to attack. Daddy issues. Tony could sing a song about that. Whoever these two were, they weren't _villains_. They were abused children, sent to work by some 'titan'. Tony lowered his repulors fully.

/break\

It had been Gamora's idea to come to Earth. Their father was looking for the Infinity Stones and the sisters had done some digging about odd energy impulses. It had been a few years ago, but there had been a spike on Earth. If they were to bring an Infinity Stone to their father... Maybe Thanos would finally be proud of Nebula too. But an Infinity Stone was something huge, so the two sisters had agreed to do this together. Work together for their shared goal.

What neither of them had been able to calculate for was the man named Tony Stark.

He didn't attack them. He quipped. He offered them food and kind words. Under the guise of helping them track down that stone – after all, the humans had no use for whatever that was, did not even know of their existence, so Stark had offered to just help them find the thing and leave again. The cooperation of the native seemed beneficial for Gamora and Nebula, who had no knowledge of this planet at all. And if the human was playing any games; humans were no large threats and Gamora and Nebula could easily take him out. Generally, nothing on this planet posed a big threat.

Things were not going according to plan though. Tony played _games_ with them, talked to them, bickered with them, introduced them to Terran food. He had... _praised_ Nebula.

They had played an odd game and she had... won. He had called her a _winner_ and _praised her_.

The more time the sisters spent there, the more they wondered why they should return. With Thanos laid pain and misery. He had no idea where they were, since they had sneaked off on their own. He paid no mind to Earth, seeing it as a backwater little speck of dirt.

Nebula... liked it here. She liked Tony, she liked being a winner, she liked the electronic children of Tony, she had even come around on the human food. Tony had electronic children. Robots, with souls. They reminded Nebula of herself; machines with souls. Yet Tony treated them with kindness, love, respect and as though they were actual humans, even though they had no human parts.

Tony treated _Nebula_ like a human, like a child he cared for. He treated her equal to Gamora, not inferior to Gamora. If anything – If anything, Tony seemed to favor _her_. No one had ever favored Nebula over anyone, much less over Gamora. But Tony was fascinated by her cyborg-parts. Not in a way that he wanted to _dissect_ her, but he found her "really cool". Nebula liked being really cool.

/break\

"Aunt Pep is going to watch you two for a while", stated Tony.

"Father", protested Gamora and straightened up. "I am nineteen years old. I do not need a babysitter. If anything, I am more than capable of coming with you to protect you!"

"So am I!", exclaimed Nebula irritated.

Tony smiled faintly at his daughters. He had worn them down for _months_ pretending to look for those Infinity Stones while teaching them about humans and Earth. He was doing his best to teach them about love and kindness, because they were children. After it became apparent that both were going to stay on Earth, Tony came up with a nifty little device. A wrist-band that summoned a hyper-realistic hologram around them to make them appear human; no one's ever met aliens before and he did not want to subject his daughters to that.

Now Nebula looked like a very pale, freckled redhead, while Gamora had chosen the appearance of a dark-skinned girl with long, black hair that fell in waves around her. His children. Nebula Stark and Gamora Stark. Faking documents to make it look like he adopted the two orphans wasn't hard.

After the palladium poisoning incident, both his daughters had grown very protective of him though. The idea of him now going out to help Fury with something, somewhere where they couldn't even _be_. That was not – they didn't like that at all.

"Listen, girls. I'll be fine", assured Tony, resting a hand on Nebula's shoulder and one on Gamora's. "You two, protect the bots, Pepper and Happy if anything happens, got it?"

Both looked not convinced that this was a good plan. They were trained assassins! They could handle themselves and were definitely better combat fighters than Tony. But they had been forced into that life by their last father – and Tony was never going to force them to fight for _anything_. They deserved to be _protected_, to lead normal lives.

"I'm just gonna go save the world real quick. And when I get back, we can have pizza."

/break\

So the Avengers Initiative was not exactly saving the world 'real quick'. There was an invasion. Aliens in New York. _Again_. Only these ones were less friendly. Thor's brother led the attack. Thor was back on Earth – yes, Tony knew about his last visit here, had kept a close eye on that and on all sightings of Thor after. Then there was the good, self-righteous captain. The manipulative spider. The brainwashed hawk. And Tony's personal favorite, the jolly big green guy.

Tony ended up taking big green back home with him after the Avengers parted ways. The hawk and the spider returned to SHIELD, who knew where the good captain was going and Thor returned to Asgard to bring his brother to trial. Bruce Banner however offered Tony a tentative, cute little smile when Tony had invited him over for more science (and a place to sleep; Bruce hadn't lived in the states for a while, after all. And rent was a bit more expensive here than what he was used to).

"And you're sure this is alright, Tony?", asked Bruce concerned.

"Of course!", exclaimed Tony with a dismissive hand-gesture. "It'd be nice having another genius around. And the tower's large enough. I invited the others to come play too, but you saw them."

"No, I meant, what with... your daughters", drawled Bruce awkwardly. "They... Do you think they will be alright with a stranger moving in? And the Hulk is not necessarily... child-friendly."

"Bullshit", huffed Tony dismissively. "You lived in that village, around kids. Nothing happened, right? And my girls are very resilient. They will be fine."

"Against the Hulk?", snorted Bruce with one raised eyebrow.

"Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet, Brucie", smirked Tony.

/break\

There was a lot of hugging and threatening. Neither Gamora nor Nebula were pleased with the stunt Tony had pulled – the whole nuke through the portals thing. He had to apologize _a lot_ and then he had to explain that Bruce Banner was going to live with them, or at least in the apartment beneath theirs and was going to share lab-space with Tony. The girls, in return, told him that this had been their ex-father. Thanos. The Chitauri army was Thanos'. The Tesseract was an Infinity Stone.

Knowing that, Tony made some plans to... regain it from SHIELD. That wouldn't be too hard.

"You kids ready to meet Bruce?", asked Tony.

"We're not _kids_ anymore, father", sighed Gamora and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, you'll always be my kids", huffed Tony, resting one hand on each his girls' backs.

"And you are sure that it will be fine...?", asked Nebula doubtfully.

"Yes. I think I do trust him. And aliens... aren't a secret anymore. Thor's a big hero and he's an alien. So... I think it will be fine", assured Tony very gently.

He guided Nebula and Gamora toward the living room where Bruce was standing, looking curiously around. Clearing his throat, Tony gained the other scientist's attention. Bruce was adorable, with that little smile, the way he ducked his head. There was something inherently soft and _calm_ about Bruce Banner, as ridiculous as that sounded considering the Hulk.

"Listen, big green, there is something about my kids that you should know...", started Tony slowly. "They're quite literally out of this world. Aliens. I found them three years ago."

He motioned for his kids that it would be alright to deactivate their hologram. Because they never kept that up around the house; Pepper, Rhodey and Happy all knew the truth about them. Tony wanted his kids to be comfortable in their own home and if the new guy living with them would mean they'd have to hide their skin, then something wasn't working out there.

"Asgardians like Tho-", started Bruce, just to freeze when the girls dropped the holograms. "Wow."

"Ye—ep", agreed Tony with a light-hearted smile. "Aren't my daughters amazing?"

"Truly", whispered Bruce stunned. "Hello. I'm Bruce Banner. It's nice to meet you."

"Hello, sir. Gamora Stark and my sister Nebula Stark", said Gamora politely.

"Thank you... for allowing me to stay in your home."

"If you hurt our father, we will kill you very slowly", warned Nebula seriously.

"Message received", confirmed Bruce with a stiff nod.

"Now, let's all get something to eat, mh?", suggested Tony lightly. "Jarvis, order food. A lot."

/break\

It took Tony a little longer to let Bruce in on the whole Thanos and Infinity Stone thing. At first, he feared Bruce would think Tony was crazy, paranoid – but Bruce didn't. Bruce... _trusted_ him.

"Tony. I saw you go through that portal. I fought aliens at your side", stated Bruce seriously, resting a gentle hand on Tony's arm. "I _know_ your fears are not unfounded."

It was a huge relief and Tony felt himself sagging together as he took a deep breath. Bruce backed him up. Maybe... Maybe Bruce would _help_ him. Tentatively, Tony opened a project hologram.

"I was thinking about... a system. Protection for the planet. An early warning system. To prevent aliens from sneaking up on us like that again", whispered Tony, eyeing Bruce reluctantly.

There was nothing but admiration and interest in Bruce's eyes as he took it all in. "That's... brilliant, Tony. A network in space to warn us about approaching aliens. I'd... like to help, if you want it."

Tony's entire face brightened up at that and he nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah. Yeah. I'd love that. You and me, sciencing to save the planet, how's that sound?"

"Science is not a verb, Tony", muttered Bruce with a fond smile.

That smile alone made Tony very giddy, though he couldn't quite pinpoint _why_.

/break\

Over the following year, Tony and Bruce – with the help of Doctor Jane Foster, because an astrophysicist was quite helpful for this project – finished their protection system and, after pitching the plans to the UN, slowly began plans of launching it.

And then the convergence happened. Thor, being an Avenger, came to them – came to Jane, Bruce and Tony. To the brilliant minds he could trust, for help. Which was just as well, because the outcome of the convergence was that they obtained an Infinity Stone. The Aether.

Which reminded Tony of something that he had slipped his mind, what with him being so busy with the defense-system and Bruce. The Tesseract and the Scepter. The Infinity Stones.

When in the following months, the rest of the Avengers came to the tower, seeking shelter after the fall of SHIELD, Tony decided it was time to share some information. Or, at least he decided to do so _after_ the team grew closer. Because the Scepter had been stolen from SHIELD, by HYDRA.

He needed the Avengers to help track it down. An Infinity Stone was far too powerful to be in the hands of crazy Nazis. He enclosed the fact that his daughters were aliens and that their former foster-father posed a future threat, that _that_ was why Bruce and Tony's early-warning system had been launched into space. That was what the Tesseract and the Scepter were.

The Tesseract and the Aether were safely on Asgard for now. And the rest of the Avengers were more than glad to help try to track down the Scepter, as the Avengers launched into a quest to take HYDRA out fully, one base at a time. Together. Tony was aware that Steve was very motivated by his brainwashed best friend, who had somehow found his place among the team.

It took them nearly a full year however before they tracked down the Scepter. The Mind Stone, as Nebula and Gamora confirmed. With the stone, they found two highly dangerous individuals – humans, enhanced with the powers of the Infinity Stone. Knowing the dangers and capabilities of the stone and especially after the witch had messed with their minds, the Avengers decided as one to make sure those dangerous enhanced people would be locked up.

"I can't believe you found the Mind Stone", whispered Gamora amazed.

She gently ran her fingers over the Scepter. Nebula regarded it more wearily. She had always feared what Thanos had sought because if he wanted it, it could not be good. Tony smiled softly to himself, proud of his girls. Well, girls. They were young women. Now that aliens were widely known and, in the case of Thor, cherished and accepted, they had decided to stand true to themselves and also to join the Avengers. There was no stopping them; they were trained fighters, sitting around and attending human school had nearly driven them insane. Gamora was getting along particularly well with Bruce (Tony somehow assumed that it was a bit of a kinship based on the fact that Bruce was the first green-skinned person she had met since her entire planet had been wiped out, even though the Hulk was only a part-time gig for Bruce. Though, it also stood that both Gamora and Bruce were very calm and rational thinkers). Aside from Bruce, Gamora also idolized Natasha a lot and the two women could often be found sparring with each other, improving each other.

Nebula was... She had never been the social type (not that Gamora was, but compared to Nebula, Gamora was very social). It was harder for her to integrate into the team, though she had grown more comfortable after Rhodey joined the team on a regular base, because she was very fond of him and Rhodey had always had this way with her, knew to make her feel accepted.

"We should lock it away safely", stated Nebula sternly.

"Considering the effects it has displayed before, that seems wise", agreed Bruce from the other side of the lab. "The way it influenced us on the helicarrier three years ago. And we still don't know what the HYDRA scientists did with it to affect the human physiology the way they did..."

"So we got three out of six Infinity Stones", hummed Tony pleased.

"Father...", started Nebula reluctantly. "Gamora and I, we talked. And..."

"Oh no. No, no, that's a horrible idea", replied Tony immediately, shaking his head.

"You didn't even let her finish", pointed Bruce out, a little amused.

"I know where this is going. We've had this discussion many times before", huffed Tony, motioning at Gamora and Nebula. Those two want to take the spaceship in which they came here to go into space to look for the other three Infinity Stones. So we can get them _before_ Thanos so we can destroy them before Thanos can use them to do the whole insane 'hey let's kill half the universe because that'll bring balance' nonsense. _No_. Both of you are _grounded_. Literally!"

With that, he stormed out, muttering to himself. He went to his private balcony, pacing and continuously cursing to himself. On the one hand, he knew Gamora and Nebula were _right_. Going out there and finding the stones was their best shot. On the other hand, there was no way he was going to let _his children_ return to wide space.

"Tony?", asked Bruce gently as he joined Tony on the balcony.

Tony paused in his musings and his pacing. He turned toward Bruce and regarded the other scientist slowly. The first person Tony had invited to live here, in _his_ tower with _his_ family. For nearly two years, it had been just them. Tony, Bruce, Nebula and Gamora. They had movie-nights (there was still so much culture to catch the two aliens up on), they ate together – Bruce had taught Gamora how to cook. Bruce and Tony had spent _so many_ hours in the lab together. The amazing system they had brought forth. There were Rhodey, Happy, Pepper, Nebula and Gamora, his _family_. And then Bruce had joined them, somehow, but it was – different. Tony knew he was missing something, something that Pepper would have probably already seen (maybe had already seen and would laugh at Tony for not figuring out himself). Bruce Banner was an anomaly. He wasn't entirely like those Tony considered family, but he was also definitely more than Thor, Steve, Natasha, Clint, Bucky and Sam. He was more than just a fellow Avenger and colleague.

"They're not the teenage girls you once took in, the children broken by their father", stated Bruce, his voice soft and soothing as he came to stand next to Tony. "They're grown _women_ now. They are _warriors_. Even if you don't like it, they have been fighting and winning for longer than you have even. They've gotten even more training now. You should... trust them."

"I trust them", grunted Tony defensively. "What I don't trust is _the universe_."

Bruce's eyes were bright and mischievously as he looked at Tony. "Only Tony Stark would think it's his responsibility to protect the people he loved not just from immediate danger, but from the whole, entire universe, mh?"

He nudged Tony teasingly, making Tony blush. And oh. Love. _Oh_. That was the missing element in his equation, the one part he couldn't figure out and without which the whole thing made no sense.

"Brucie-bear, you are _brilliant_", declared Tony wide-eyed and grasped Bruce's face.

Bruce startled as he was suddenly kissed. Even more so at the nearly manic look on Tony's face.

"...Tony?", asked Bruce softly.

"I'm going to space with Gamy and Nebu", declared Tony. "Because the only way I can protect them is by being there for them and protecting them _in person_."

"Tony, that's not what I meant. And what was that kiss?", asked Bruce, clearly confused.

"Right, yeah. Sorry. You just gave me the solution to two problems. I only put one into words", laughed Tony sheepishly. "But yes. I think I love you. I'm sorry I'll have to delay our first date until I get back from space, but I am definitely going with them."

Bruce blinked a couple of times before cupping Tony's cheek. "You're going too fast, Tony."

"I know. It's a big problem of mine. Maybe a couple months in space will... mellow me out?"

He grinned impishly at Bruce and blushed surprised when Bruce kissed his cheek.

/break\

"You just couldn't let me have my big dramatic exist, could you?", huffed Tony with a pout.

He sat down on one of the chairs in the spaceship, side-eyeing Bruce as the other scientist also sat down. Granted it supposedly made sense. In a way. Since Bruce knew a lot about space-travel too – one of the things both of them had started truly getting into after they started to work on their Ultron programming. Nebula and Gamora exchanged a pointed look as they passed them.

"You two have been rather odd lately", noted Gamora, taking the pilot's seat.

"It's nothing, Gamora", assured Bruce with a gentle smile. "Just bring us to our first destination."

Again, the sisters exchanged a look. Their humans really thought that they wouldn't notice.

"Okay, if you're sure about that", replied Gamora briefly.

Whatever was going on with Tony and Bruce, their shared time in the confined spaceship was going to force them to talk it out. She sure knew that their travels to Earth had forced her and Nebula to talk more, back then. Sometimes, that felt like an entirely different life to her. Being the daughter of Thanos, doing his bidding. The battles against Nebula – the mutilations Nebula had to suffer for it. The loveless life they had led, the manipulation they had suffered.

Her eyes were soft as she looked at Tony for a moment, watched him laugh at something Bruce had said. He had no idea just how much he meant to them, how much what he had done meant to them. He had, quite literally, saved their lives with his kindness.

With a glare etched into her features did she grip the steering wheel tighter. Whatever would happen on this mission, she was not going to let anything happen to Tony. They were going to find the stones and destroy them before Thanos could do anything to harm _her_ _father_.

/break\

The Power Stone had been found and sold by a man calling himself Planet Prince, or something like that. Not that Tony _really_ cared. At least Gamora knew _where_ to find it. And while the man in question got distracted by – a talking raccoon and a tree because _of course_ – Tony and Gamora snuck in and bought the orb back. Before Nova Corp (space police! So cool!) arrived to arrest the Planet Prince and his odd opponents, Gamora and Tony were already back on their ship.

"Mission successful", chimed Tony pleased.

"Well done, father", replied Nebula as she carefully took the orb from Tony.

"Four down, two more to go. The Time Stone and the Soul Stone, right?", asked Tony.

"I'm going to call Steve, let them know we were successful and see how they're faring with their search for potential further Infinity Stones on Earth", stated Bruce seriously.

"I still find that doubtful, but then again we obtained _three_ outta six Infinity Stones on Earth, so... who knows", huffed Tony curiously. "Tell them to be good to my bots!"

Bruce regarded him with soft, fond eyes for a moment before he returned to his room to make the call. Tony sighed as he watched Bruce retreat. The two hadn't really talked about the kiss. Then again, it had been a total impulse decision on Tony's part. Maybe better not talk about it.

/break\

Tony was sitting and staring out into space in awe. They were currently on their way to the Soul Stone. Vormir. Apparently, Gamora had been sent to find its location before she and Nebula had come to Earth. She had never disclosed the location to anyone.

"It's beautiful, isn't is?", whispered Bruce when he sat down next to Tony.

"It's frightening", whispered Tony back. "It's so _much_. It's... overwhelming."

"It is", agreed Bruce thoughtfully. "How are you holding up? I know you've had nightmares and flashbacks about... the portal. This isn't too much, is it?"

"I... don't know", admitted Tony thoughtfully. "It's somehow... less bad, being here with you, Gamy and Nebu. Being safe in this ship, instead of stranded with a dying suit."

Though Tony had fixed his suits to make them space-proof. He had also brought a fraction of JARVIS with him, to navigate the ship, so they had a proper autopilot. Tony was _prepared_.

"I...like you a lot", offered Bruce after a while. "You were the first one to give me a _home_. A family. I admit, I've never thought of it as more before because it was already more than I ever expected. But after you kissed me... I... have to admit... Would you like to go on a date with me, Tony?"

Tony blinked a couple of times. "What? Where? On an alien planet?"

"Why not?", chuckled Bruce. "It'd be very on-brand for Tony Stark to make the first date the most... out of this world experience possible, wouldn't you agree?"

"Absolutely", agreed Tony delighted and leaned against Bruce. "We'll do that."

He tilted his head up a little to kiss Bruce's cheek softly, grinning to himself.

/break\

There was a stretch of panicked silence as the four of them stood on Vormir together, after Red Skull – _how was that a thing?_ \- gave them the bad news that one had to sacrifice what they loved most. A soul for the Soul Stone. Nebula and Gamora were basically battling themselves for who was going to sacrifice herself for Tony, which _none of them would_. Tony wasn't allowing it.

"Okay. Okay, I have an idea how to get around this", stated Tony.

"No, you are not sacrificing yourself", stated Bruce sternly.

"...I _still_ have an idea though", grunted Tony with a glare.

"Okay. Let me hear it", nodded Bruce, arms crossed.

Gamora and Nebula finally stopped fighting about who should sacrifice herself and instead turned to watch their father wearily. Knowing Tony, his first idea most likely had been to sacrifice himself, which was why the two of them had decided they needed to be _faster_.

"Something that I love most. A soul", stated Tony slowly. "What if... we send the Iron Man armor. Piloted by JARVIS. He's an AI. He has a soul, by any definition necessary, and the armor is a part of me, I love it fiercely. But unlike you guys, I can just... build a new one."

"And JARVIS' main core is still on Earth and installed on the ship, so he will not be lost permanently despite the price being paid. That _could_ work out", nodded Bruce.

"I'll accompany father back to the ship and watch him, just in case", stated Nebula. "You two will recover the Soul Stone and ensure this plan works."

After a confirming nod from Bruce and Gamora, Nebula accompanied Tony back to the ship and watched quietly how the armor peeled off her father. Tony gave JARVIS instructions to return and destroy the armor in whatever way Red Skull deemed fit. And then all that was left for Nebula and Tony was to sit and wait for the others to return to them.

"I saw you and Bruce last night", stated Nebula after a while. "Does that... Gamora and I have been considering what exactly the two of you are for a long time now. Since you let him live with us and he was the first one you told about us, aside from Rhodey, Pepper and Happy."

"Right", muttered Tony embarrassed. "Ye—eah I guess... we... Are you okay with it?"

"All we want is for you to be happy. You have done... very much for us. It is the least you deserve. And Bruce is a part of our family. He has been there for us while you were gone, when you were abducted, when we were frantically searching for you. He is a good man", whispered Nebula.

Ah, the whole Mandarin disaster. Tony winced at that. It was honestly a miracle either of his daughters still let him leave the house, all things considered.

"We... got it", announced Gamora as she and Bruce returned.

"Okay. Great. I'll just... quickly report back to the good captain", stated Tony and practically fled.

/break\

"This is not the first date you promised me, Tony", sighed Bruce softly.

Tony huffed and snuggled closer to him as they shared his hospital food. Nebula and Gamora were asleep in the chairs on the other side of the room. Rhodey had been here and screamed at him for a while before leaving to cool down. The other Avengers seemed to rotate to also scream at him.

So they had returned to Earth successfully and the team on Earth had located the Time Stone while they had been gone. Thor left for Asgard to bring back the stones they had kept safe. The plans for the gauntlet had rested on Tony's hard-drive for years, ever since Gamora and Nebula had told him all about Thanos' plans and how he had planned to enact them.

"There was no one else who could do this", muttered Tony, winging a little at the pain.

His arm was severely broken, even though Tony had put all the precautions and mechanisms to swallow the feedback from the stones in place. He had used the gauntlet, had destroyed the Infinity Stones, while the other Avengers were still arguing about what was the safest way to do it and who should do it. There was no time to waste. During their space-travels they had already heard of Thanos and how angry he was growing at his traitorous former daughters. Tony could not risk Thanos finding out, finding them, harming _his children_.

"You're a horrible, self-sacrificial idiot, Tony", sighed Bruce heavily, kissing Tony's temple.

Tony just smiled lightly. "Hey, either way it's still a first date you'll never forget, right?"

Bruce didn't look impressed at that, but he also knew that Tony had gotten enough talks from everybody he knew. For now, all Tony needed was rest and comfort. Bruce carefully pulled him closer. With any luck, he would recover fully again. He _had_ worked much alien technology into it after their trip, it hadn't been enough to fully negate the effects of the blast when the stones exploded, but it had probably saved Tony's arm on the long run.

"No more dangerous stunts like that", grunted Bruce seriously. "You may think you are disposable because you value everyone around you more than your own life, but please consider just how much _we_ value you and how much it would break our hearts if you died. My heart."

Tony looked up at him nearly apologetic before kissing his softly and getting more comfortable against him. "No more self-sacrificing. Let's buy a cottage in the woods and retire, mh?"

"Now _that_ sounds like a plan I could get behind", agreed Bruce amused.

_~*~ The End ~*~_

**Author's Note:**

> This is a birthday present for my Kimmycup! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOVE! <3 I was torn between a post-Endgame versus avoiding Endgame altogether! In the end, I wanted Gamora and Nebula to have good parents and hey, green daughter gets half-time-green dad! ;D I do hope you enjoyed it, sweetheart!


End file.
